Santiago Marino

Santiago Marino (25 July 1788-4 September 1854) was a Venezuelan general and revolutionary leader who emerged as a major caudillo in the eastern parts of the country during the Venezuelan War of Independence and the ensuing internal conflicts.

Biography
Santiago Marino was born on the Isla de Margarita in Venezuela in 1788, and he was raised on Trinidad, where he joined the Freemasons. In 1812, he joined the revolutionary independence cause, rising to the rank of Colonel and commander of Guiria that same year. In 1813, Marino led a republican invasion of Venezuela from its outlying islands, and Marino's expeditionary force of 45 patriots soon swelled to over 5,000 men armed and equipped with supplies from Guiria, which they had captured from the local royalist militia without much resistance. That same year, Simon Bolivar invaded Venezuela from New Granada in the west, and the two patriot armies liberated the country independent of each other. Marino set up a base at Cumana, while Bolivar entered Caracas and proclaimed the restoration of the Venezuelan republic. In 1814, Marino's forces fought alongside Bolivar, but they were forced to flee to Jamaica and Haiti in 1815 after a royalist reaction destroyed the revived republic. In 1819, after Bolivar liberated Venezuela once again, Marino became a member of the Congress of Venezuela from Cumana, and he became commander-in-chief of the patriot forces in eastern Venezuela. At the Battle of Carabobo in 1821, Marino served as Bolivar's chief of staff, and the victory there ended royalist control over the country.

In May 1831, Marino and Jose Tadeo Monagas attempted to create the "State of the East", only for President Jose Antonio Paez to stop the separatist attempt. On 8 July 1835, Marino headed a coup to overthrow President Jose Maria Vargas, and it sought to reconstruct Gran Colombia, vindicate the name of Bolivar as liberator, and to establish military control and the religion of the state. Marino briefly took control of the country after 9 July 1835, but, on 28 July, Paez and his forces entered Caracas and reinstated Vargas, putting an early end to Marino's military rule. Marino went into exile in the Caribbean until 1848, when he became Chief of the Army under President Jose Tadeo Monagas, overthrowing Paez after defeating him at Los Araguatos on 10 March 1848. Marino died in La Victoria in 1854.